The jury heard multiple fractures suffered by their baby, Jade, weeks before she died were not consistent with the explanations given by her parents.

Professor Helen Cartey, who examined Jade's X-rays, said the three-month-old baby's skull fracture, five fractured ribs and knee injury were not consistent with minor falls.

The youngster's life was tragically cut short on January 15 last year when she died from an infection, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

A post-mortem examination revealed she had suffered a catalogue of injuries about three weeks earlier.

Jade's parents deny child cruelty between October 2002 and January 2203.

In police interviews, the couple, of Field Street, Felling,, said they could not recall any incident in their baby's short life that could have led to the injuries she suffered and that neither had seen anything amiss before her tragic death.

Via a video link from Liverpool's Alder Hey Hospital, Prof Cartey, who teaches and writes about non-accidental childhood injuries, told the jury there were two potential causes for Jade's skull fracture.

Firstly, she could have fallen from a bed on to her arms and knees on the floor.

Or she could have hit her head on the end of a baby chair.

She said: "In my opinion, neither of these accounts were consistent with the fracture of the complexity that Jade had."

The court heard Jade could not have sustained such a severe injury without a clearly memorable incident occurring.

And there would have been immediate and significant swelling and she would have expected the parents to have felt this when they cuddled the child.

The fracture of the bone in the leg was consistent with her being yanked by the foot or ankle and the rib injuries by being squeezed with considerable force.

Paramedics were called to the couple's then address in Temple Street, Felling, on the night of January 15 after they went into a panic when Jade stopped breathing.

When paramedics arrived, she was already dead.

She had died from either an infection or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and no-one was to blame.

But a police investigation was launched after old non-accidental injuries were discovered during the post-mortem.